Ms. Rinu Sen, 2017 Parker Lecturer |
Rinku Sen, outgoing president and executive director of Race Forward: The Center for Racial Justice Innovation, will deliver the 35th Annual Everett C. Parker Ethics in Telecommunications Lecture, the United Church of Christ’s media justice ministry announced.
The Parker Lecture and Awards Breakfast will be held at 8 a.m. October 24 at First Congregational United Church of Christ, 945 G Street NW, in Washington, DC. For tickets or sponsorship information, click here.
Sen is uniquely poised to give the Parker Lecture, with expertise in racial justice, journalism, and organizing. She was instrumental in transforming Race Forward's magazine, Colorlines, into a news website. Colorlines has been able to use journalism to focus on voting rights restrictions, police violence, and immigration.
Under Sen’s leadership, Race Forward changed the immigration debate with its groundbreaking “Shattered Families” report, detailing how record deportations of parents were leading to the placement of thousands of children in foster care. She was also the architect of the “Drop the I-Word” campaign, which led a number of major U.S. news organizations to stop referring to immigrants as “illegal.”
After 16 years on the Race Forward staff, Sen is stepping into a new role as the organization’s senior strategist, following a merger with the Center for Social Inclusion. She will continue to contribute to Race Forward’s award-winning news site Colorlines, which she previously served as publisher.
Prior to her work at Race Forward, Sen served in leadership roles for more than a decade with the Center for Third World Organizing. A native of India, she grew up in northeastern factory towns and learned to speak English in a two-room school house. She holds a B.A. in women’s studies from Brown University and an M.S. in journalism from Columbia University.
The Parker Lecture was created in 1982 to recognize the late Rev. Dr. Parker’s pioneering work as an advocate for the public's rights in broadcasting. The event is the only lecture in the country to examine telecommunications in the digital age from an ethical perspective.
For more information about this year's Parker Lecture and to reserve your seat, visit our 2017 Parker Lecture web page, or reserve your seat.